What are you doing? Reading? While you are reading this someone out there is killing a tiger. We are killing them to extinction. If we don’t stop, all that we will be left with in the next 10 years is posters and zoo sightings. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) we have lost 92 per cent or 36,800 of our wild tigers in just over 40 years. On an average we are killing three tigers everyday. At this rate, tigers will be extinct within a decade. The estimated number of them left in the wild, worldwide, is as low as 3,200 today. Imagine the pace at which they are being trapped, skinned, and pushed out of their homes.

Immediate action is needed to increase and strengthen their habitat and protect the species from major threats, especially poaching. India being the home for half the population, 1,400 wild tigers, Gulf News reader Vipin Sharma shares his experiences in trying to capture the big cat on frame.

He said: “The largest of the cat species is endangered, classified as ‘critical species’ by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), since 2010. We need to protect their habitat for them to survive another decade.” Sharma is a passionate tiger photographer, who travels around the wildlife national parks in India trying to capture the charismatic tigers, in fear that he might not get a chance to explore his passion in a few years.

In 2010, the International Tiger Forum, the first-ever event devoted to saving a species, launched a Global Tiger Recovery Programme (GTRP) with a goal to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. The forum was organised by The Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), a global alliance of governments, international organizations, civil society, the conservation and scientific community, and the private sector committed towards saving tigers. The IUCN and the WWF have joined the programme. They believe that the goal is achievable if all Tiger Range Countries (TRC) governments open their budgets and free funds to secure these heartlands with well trained, managed, motivated and resourced field staff at each site, to support tigers and maintain their habitat and prey.

Why should we save tigers?

– The tiger awes you:

If forests are emptied all that will remain are distant legends and zoo sightings. Can we really say we loved everything about the tiger, except its existence?

– A home for tigers means a home for others:

To protect tigers we need to protect their habitat. The same habitat where many other endangered species reside and help make our planet unique.

– Balanced ecosystems:

As a large predator, the tiger plays a key role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, which supply both Nature and people with fresh water, food, and many other important services.

– Tigers are a lifeline for many people:

Tigers can directly help some of the world’s poorest communities by tourism. Tiger conservation projects also help provide other alternative livelihoods for rural communities.

– The tiger is a survivor:

The tiger has evolved over thousands of years. They are being abused yet they cling to survival, barely, in a few patches of forest scattered across Asia. Don’t they deserve another decade?

 Source: World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

How can you help?

– Donate to tiger projects, you can do so online. Encourage people working for the cause.

– Don’t buy anything with animal products be it their skin, fur or bones. Increase in demand of animal products is the reason behind poaching, the biggest threat to their population.

– Don’t support hunting.

– Spread the word as many might not be aware of the declining population of these critically endangered animals.

In a separate incident, another carcass of aleopard was found in Tiwarikhola village of Betalghat area in Nainital district. The carcass bore a wound on the back, raising doubt that the big cat could have perished in a fight with another wild animal, the officials said.

A post-mortem is being conducted to ascertain exact cause of the death.

Ivan and Cornel, 4-year-old lions, stand inside a private roadside zoo in Novi Pazar, Serbia on September 23, 2012.Three lions Ivan, Cornel and Lepa were acquired from the Belgrade Zoo by a private person in 2009, before the Serbian legislation that prohibits possession of dangerous wild animals came into force in 2010. The Serbian CITES management and enforcement authority confiscated the animals and asked Four Paws Animal Welfare Foundation to transfer them to Africa. On September 25, 2013, that’s just what happened, when the three lions from Serbia and the two tigers from Germany were released into Lionsrock Big Cats Sanctuary in South Africa.

Tiger Awareness is a registered UK charity, we help with funds in India. The organisation was formed in 1998 to give awareness to the plight of the Tiger. We work with local organisations in India, our funds are used at ground level where they are most needed and are given directly by ourselves.

Meeting villagers in Sundarbans..Some had lost family members in conflict with Tiger / crocodile, learning about challenges they face on daily basis. Tiger Awareness hope to be able to help in some way forward in the near future.

The road to better health has and is a long one for the lovely Melani. Her life before her rescue was one of pure endurance. She struggled from the moment she was born after her mother rejected her and she was raised, at Surabaya Zoo, on just plain milk, not a formula. Due to this, Melani missed out on many of the vitamins, minerals etc needed to allow her bones and body to grow normally. She was always a small framed Tiger, however after the consumption of chemical laced meat, her internal body was damaged so badly that she could no longer eat, digest and absorb big chunks of meat.
Then came a terrible and cruel fate. Melani began to loose weight and had a terrible time actually keeping any reasonable amount of food down and no one at Surabaya understood why, and didnt have the patience to aid her. Some staff at Surabaya decided that if Melani didnt eat her food, then they would.
So staff resorted to stealing her food as it was written off that she wanted to die.
Can you imagine what Melani felt?
Then came her rescue on 25 June 2013.
Inside Melani’s body, the ability for peristalsis movement of the digestive organs is nearly non existant due to the chemical poisoning. Slowly, extremely slowly, over the past few months, there is improvement in this digestive process, but it is a very long road. Poisoning with formaline is possibly one of the worst types of poisoning as in most cases the animals die. It is utterly devastating what has happened inside Melani’s body, however, she has the will to live, she wants to live
Ive worked alot with various Tigers, some who were totally wild and ferocious and some that were so incredibly calm. But with Melani, she is the most affectionate.
Maybe it is because she has always struggled and was raised by humans (no matter how bad) but she shows such love towards humans that it brings tears to my eyes. I know that may sound very “human” of me to say that, but it is true.
Now in Taman SafariBogor, she has peace, she is warm, she is loved. Instead of the staring hollow eyes we all saw when she was in Surabaya Zoo, the haunting look has now been replaced with bright and alert blue/green eyes, her soft voice chatting away all the time, and lots of affection
Without any exaggeration, you can see her smiling now.
As she goes to sleep, she watches you with those beautiful eyes. Her eyes get heavier and heavier, until she closes them and peacefully sleeps.
Here is the sleeping beauty x Have a wonderful weekend ~ Sybelle